Shugyosha

Sorry, forgot to say that there may be the addition of a couple of kanji in seal script - the squiggles at 9 o'clock and 12 o'clock in this picture. They look to be not an accidental part of the ground. Unfortunately I'm away from my books and can't tell you what they say, if anything.

Hi David, Thanks for posting. Unfortunately the answer is not a lot. I think it's a genuine antique tsuba from the Edo period. It looks to be a fairly generic design - a hammered iron plate with the addition of a theme in soft metals - in this case sea shells and more than likely made for stock as opposed to being made to order. Beyond that, in the absence of a signature, there's not a lot to say. There are sharper eyes and brains on here and you may well get better answers from others.

In his book on tameshigiri Markus Sesko suggests that sword testers would take a polished sword and use what might be described as a proprietary method of sharpening the blade. A bit like preparing a straight razor ahead of shaving. Also, there was a famous sword called "beard cutter" because when the user took off the head of his opponent it cut his beard off. Down to the conjecture bit, but that blade must have had some work beyond a normal polish. Also, it would be odd if people who fad lived around swords all their lives didn't know how to iron out minor defects in the cutting edge and render it fit for battle. Jussi, I tried Googling the search term but it didn't help...do you have any links? Thanks and kind regards, John

There's only one Showa smith of this name listed in Sesko, but the signature doesn't tally: UJIFUSA (氏房), Shōwa (昭和, 1926-1989), Gifu – “Ujifusa” (氏房), real name Shinoda Hiroshi (篠田寛), born May 20th 1912, student of Watanabe Kanenaga (渡辺兼永) and Katō Jumyō (加藤寿命), he worked as a guntō smith, jōkō no retsu (Akihide), Third Seat at the 6th Shinsaku Nihontō Denrankai (新作日本刀展覧会, 1941)

Nicely done Steve!

Hi Sylvain, Markus Sesko has two smiths signing "Ogaki ju Kane..." . The top of the last kanji just visible could pass for 氏, so I think there's a good chance that it's one of these. KANEUJI (兼氏), Genroku (元禄, 1688-1704), Mino – “Shizu Saburō Kaneuji” (志津三郎兼氏), “Nōshū Ōgaki-jū Shizu Saburō Kaneuji” (濃州大垣住志津三郎兼氏), real name Tōyama Tō´emon (遠山藤右衛門), he lived in Ōgaki (大垣) KANEUJI (兼氏), Kyōhō (享保, 1716-1736), Mino – “Nōshū Ōgaki-jū Shizu Saburō Kaneuji” (濃州大垣住 志津三郎兼氏), real name Tōyama Matazaemon (遠山又左衛門), he counted himself as 23rd gen. Kaneuji but this has to be taken with a grain of salt because an even later Kaneuji from the Kōka era (弘化, 1844-1848) signed with the supplement “19th gen. Kaneuji,” however, the later Kaneuji smiths from the Ōgaki line had specialized in the production of kogatana

Hi Peeti, I agree with Wah in that I prefer the non-ayasugi hada blades. This one is a bit overstated for my taste in terms of horimono and the hada which really does jump off the blade which some people will like. There's another example here which is much more toned down than the Aoi one, though still ayasugi and which I prefer of the two: http://www.sanmei.com/contents/media/A195_S830_E.html Have a look at this one that was for sale at Yakiba a while ago which is more in the Yamato tradition and I find absolutely gorgeous: http://yakiba.com/Kat_Sadakatsu.htm But whichever you prefer, there are plenty of high quality swords available by this smith and, as he was the premier smith of his generation, they are very desirable.

Hi Stephen, Could the theme be kikusui? With that one it looks like there was an attempt to put a tama between the semicircles but it could be accidental or just my eyes. Thanks for posting an interesting topic. John

Hi Randy, The description line reads: Item: Wakizashi mumei (Yoshii) The remainder of the paper is translated on Danny Massey's site, though yours is a sword (刀) rather than kodogu and it's ranked kicho rather than tokubetsu kicho. http://www.nihontocraft.com/japanese_sword_papers.html#japanese_sword_1 Best, John

Hi Grev, I'm pretty sure that you have the second one right. Before I sold it I had it under my magnifying lamp and concluded that it was Shigetsugu. The first one was mostly too vague to make anything out of, but Shoami on the right makes sense and I thought the first kanji on the left was Shige also, but I couldn't see what followed it. As to the attribution of the first one, you're better qualified than me to judge but in any event, I'm glad that you like them both. Kind regards, John

Hi Rab, I'm fairly confident that, if it's genuine, it's this guy. I can't make out the kanji after the mekugi ana but in Markus Sesko's Swordsmiths of Japan there is only one smith signing with the first five kanji (半右衛門尉), so I think that there's a good chance that it's him. HIROSHIGE (広重), Kanbun (寛文, 1661-1673), Musashi – “Bushū-jū Fujiwara Hiroshige” (武州住藤原広重), “Bushū-jū Inoshishi Hiroshige” (武州住猪広重), “Inoshishi Hiroshige” (猪広重), “Enshū-jū Fujiwara Hiroshige” (遠州住藤原広重), “Han´emon no Jō Inoshishi Hiroshige” (半右衛門尉猪広重), “Inaba no Kami Tachibana Hiroshige sentan-manren saku” (因幡守橘広重千鍛万錬作, “made by Inaba no Kami Tachibana Hiroshige who unrelentingly strives for perfection”), “Inoshishi Inaba no Kami Hiroshige” (猪因幡守広重), real name Yamamoto Han´emon (山本半右衛門), nickname Inoshishi (猪, lit. “hog”), he lived in Yokoyama (横山) in Hachiōji(八王子) in Musashi province but also worked in Tōtōmi province and in Kyōto, it is said that in Kyōto, he supported the so-called Kyō go-kaji (京五鍛冶), the “Five Outstanding Kyōto Masters,” who were Iga no Kami Kinmichi (伊賀守金道), Tanba no Kami Yoshimichi (丹波守吉道), Ōmi no Kami Ikkanshi Tadatsuna (近江守一竿子忠綱), Shinano no Kami Minamoto Nobuyoshi (信濃守源信吉) and Ōmi no Kami Hisamichi (近江守久道), it is mentioned that he also worked for the Ogasawara family (小笠原). Best, John

Hi Ben, If that were my sword, I think I would at least invest in having a window done. I like what I can see of the hamon in the close up picture, that part at least seems like a pretty good match for the examples in Markus Sesko's shinto kantei book so we can say that there is some similarity in the workmanship before we get down to looking at the signature. The kiri shaped nakago jiri matches one in Markus's book and, whilst other examples are more rounded, I don't see that as a problem. Also, the mekugi ana placement is about right - a number of examples in Fujishiro and Sesko have the mekugi ana through the 羽 character. Other similarities: The last stroke bottom right of the 出 character matches yours in that it joins the horizontal stroke in the middle rather than at its base. I find the 大 a very good match both in terms of the angle of the strokes and the chisel work. With the 藤 kanji, in both cases in the top part of the kanji, rather than cutting through the horizontal line, the horizontal line is done in two halves with the vertical lines in the middle. In both cases the 国 character has a rounded top right hand corner. 原 - I think this kanji is a pretty good match though the angles of the strokes differ a little from the example in some cases. The bits I don't like: In the Fuji kanji 藤, the bottom right element has an overly heavy double vertical stroke as if trying to cover off a mistake. Also the left hand vertical stroke of the left part of 路 has wandered off outside the line of the top part. That said, I think there is far more to like about the signature than dislike and the discrepancies could be accounted for as natural variation and/ or human error due to age, illness, a hard day, a hard night etc rather than fakery (for me anyway). This is a sword I would be taking it quite seriously, but no doubt other people will point out stuff that I have missed. Best, John

Ben, sorry. I got all excited over the mei and didn't read your post properly.

Hi Ben, You jammy so and so. Signature is Dewa dai jo Fujiwara Kunimichi. If it's good, it's one of these guys and given that the sugata doesn't look like a kanbun shape and that I can see what looks like a fairly flamboyant hamon, I'd bet on the earlier one. KUNIMICHI (国路), Genna (元和, 1615-1624), Yamashiro – “Heianjō-jū Kunimichi” (平安城住国道), “Dewa no Daijō Fujiwara Kunimichi” (出羽大掾藤原国道), “Dewa no Daijō Fujiwara Rai Kunimichi” (出羽大掾藤原来国路), “Dewa no Daijō Kunimichi” (出羽大掾十一辻). He was first a student of Iga no Kami Kinmichi (伊賀守金道) but studied later also under Horikawa Kunihiro (堀川国広). He signed his name in his early years with the characters (国道). Another one of his early signature variants, (十一辻) for Kunimichi, is a wordplay: “Kuni” can also be written with the characters “nine” (ku, 九) and “two” (ni, 二), added-up “eleven” (十一). The character (辻) is read tsuji and has the meaning “road,” but road can also be written with michi (道・路). Sources that do not know this wordplay quote the reading of the characters (十一辻) for “Kunimichi” therefore incorrectly as “Jūichitsuji.” After his studies under Kunihiro, and at the latest from the 14th year of Keichō (1609) onwards, he signed his name Kunimichi with the characters (国路). The name change is probably not connected with the receiving of the honorary title Dewa no Daijō because he signed this title also in combination with the variant (国道) for Kunimichi. Kunimichi was active over a very long period of time. We know dated signatures from the 13th year of Keichō (慶長, 1608) to the second year of Kanbun (寛文, 1662) which makes at least 55 years. But regardless of this long artistic period, Kunimichi is also considered as one of the most productive smiths of the Horikawa school. His year of death is unknown but there exists a date signature of the fifth year of Keian (慶安, 1652) with the information “made at the age of 77” which calculates his year of birth as Tenshō four (天正, 1576), And the latest extant date signature is from the ninth month of Meireki three (明暦, 1657) and is combined with the information “made at the age of 82.” This signature is finely chiselled and it is therefore assumed that the blade is one of his latest works. The exact date when he received his honorary title Dewa no Daijō is not known. The earliest blade signed that way is dated with the eighth month Keichō 20 (1615). Therefore it is assumed that he received the title around Keichō 19 or 20. His use of the character “Rai” (来) in some of his signatures alludes to a connection to the Mishina school as certain Mishina smiths signed with Rai too. Another support for this theory is that he signed his name during his early years with the Mishina-michi (道). Kunimichi was active over a very long period of time. We know dated signatures from the 13th year of Keichō (慶長, 1608) to the second year of Kanbun (寛文, 1662) which makes at least 55 years. But regardless of this long artistic period, Kunimichi is also considered as one of the most productive – and also best – smiths of the Horikawa school. Thus we find blades with a Keichō-shintō-sugata and such with a foretaste of a Kanbun-shintō-sugata. We know works in the Keichō-shintō style of Kunihiro but his strong point was a flamboyant hamon with variation in the height and depth of the yakihaba and excellent nie and nioi-based hataraki. When working in the shintō style he forged a dense ko-mokume and the hamon is here an ō-gunome-midare that bases on an ō-notare, but also an ō-gunome-midare or gunome-midare is seen. Partially the gunome elments are densely arranged and look like single midare elements. The bōshi is a ko-maru agari that tends to midare-komi. When he worked in the Yamatotradition he forged a mokume mixed with a noticeable amount masame. The hamon is in this case a chū-suguha in ko-nie-deki with uchinoke and the bōshi is ko-maru or ko-maru agari. jōjō-saku ◎ KUNIMICHI (国路), Kanbun (寛文, 1661-1673), Yamashiro – “Dewa no Daijō Fujiwara Kunimichi” (出羽大掾 藤原国路), due to the long active period of Kunimichi, a second generation came into play who is listed somewhat later than Kunimichi whose last known blade is from Meireki three (明暦, 1657) Best, John

Hi David, I'm afraid I'm falling into the "fake" camp: the machi don't line up and it looks like the yokote is scratched on. Also the kissaki geometry as a whole is off - the lines don't quite match up. Like Brian says, better than the worst fakes but still not quite right (for me). I hope I'm wrong and, if I'm not, that it didn't cost you much. Best, John

It looks like the shorter guy on the right has a shorter sword than the others though.

Hi Peter, This may be from the thread that Alex mentions. I copied the text into my reference file some time ago and I can't remember exactly where it came from now, but it may have been put together by Jean: 1. Longer signatures which include personal names generally indicate higher quality blades made for a specific order. 2. The use of Bishu rather than Bizen is supposed to indicate a lower quality (bundle sword/mass produced) 3. There was something somewhere about the positioning of the "ju" character before or after Osafune, but I cant remember it or find the reference, someone else may be able to help on that one As said above these are general points and there are always exceptions : beautiful swords exist with signatures beginning Bishu and some average looking ones with full signatures. As always look at the blade and work before the signature and try to judge it on what you see there. As said often on this Board : sword quality does confirm the signature. There is an example of a Bishu Osafune Sukesada that is Juyo, proving the point. In general, the Sue Bizen smiths did use a scheme with their signatures that provides a rule of thumb to judge the intended market of their swords. 1. Sukesada / Bishu Osafune Sukesada, you will see this on the lowest class of blade. The Juyo above is Hikobeinojo Sukesada who was the earliest of the great Sukesada smiths and he may have been following through on the older period signing style. Not clear. Generally considered mass produced, but there seems to be a lot of variation between really weak stuff and things that will be very nice and what you would expect would be Tokubetsu Hozon... and of course the one Juyo. Very hard to tell, take it on a case by case basis but know it is generally a negative indicator. 2. Bizen no Kuni Ju Osafune Sukesada... middle class blade. 3. Bizen no Kuni Ju Osafune John Sukesada... in this case, John is signing his personal name, expending special effort and time and attributing it as his personal work in this really big workshop of Sukesada smiths. This indicates a special-made order for a client and is always high class work. 4. Bizen no Kuni Ju Osafune John Sukesada Made For Bob... same as above, but they've added the client's name and this is considered the highest form they did. When you scan through the Juyo index, you will see that there are a fair number of daitos signed (2), but I think no tantos. All the tantos from Yosozaemon Sukesada are signed (3). The trick with Osafune is that pre-Sue Bizen the smiths signed "Bizen Osafune Ju Whomever" if they used this pattern, and in Sue Bizen they move the Ju up so it is "Bizen Ju Osafune Whomever." People faking Yosozaemonnojo, Genbeinojo and Hikobeinojo often missed this detail and flipped it around into the "correct" spot which is "wrong" for the Sue Bizen smiths. In the Shinto period the smiths refered to "correct" form but this should be checked. The way the Sue Bizen guys say it, is like they have adopted Osafune into their name. Osafune Sukesada, living in Bizen, rather than Sukesada, living in Osafune town, Bizen province. Best, John

Hi Pete, Here's my best shot: 獅子牡丹図金物銘 家父作秋雄補 Shishi, botan theme kanamono mei: Kafu saku Akio ho (My father made this, Akio supplemented) - I'm struggling with a better way to put this. 銀地容彫金赤銅象嵌 Kin ji katachi bori kin shakudo zogan Silver ground carved with full motif, gold and shakudo inlay 獅子と牡丹がともに表されるのは, 取り合わせ絶妙なものの例えと言われる. It is said that the lion and the peony are represented together and this is an exquisite example. すなわち獅子は百獣の王であり, 牡丹百花の王であり. これを力と美, 剛と柔の対比として表現したのである [The use of the motifs of] the shishi who is king of one hundred beasts and the peony that is king of one hundred flowers expresses the juxtaposition of their power and beauty, bravery and tenderness. 金物裏には夏雄息子, 秋雄による極めの短冊銘がある. On the ura of this kanamono is a short signature by Akio, the son of Natsuo. Someone will do this better than I can shortly, but I hope it helps. Best, John

It was the only example I could find with the same kanji.

Inoue Shinkai: http://www.aoijapan.com/img/sword/2015/15175-2.jpg

I'm not quite sure how far Santa's remit stretches, but... Dear Santa, I've never stopped believing in you, or being a kiss-arse. Please lean on the gods of cricket and nihonto so that they get their heads together and arrange dates in 2017 for the Australia v England Ashes tests in Perth and Adelade and DTI to be on days that serendipitively (???) allow me to take in all three events with a little R&R in Sydney thrown in the middle. I promise to be a good student of nihonto this year and not to buy anything that I don't really, really want.

Hi Jim, It's in katakana next to the picture of the tang: Wa o ru taa A. Ko n pu to n (sorry, couldn't get my Japanese keyboard working this morning). If someone has the auction catalogues or 100 Masterpieces that would also perhaps give you a means of verifying that the sword was in the collection. Best, John

Hi Grev, I'd completely missed that so I've lashed out $10 on a copy. I suspect that it will be a very valuable resource. Best, John

Sounds like a great idea but as Jean says, a lot of work. To overcome my ignorance to some degree, I try to adopt a problem solving approach to identifying kanji and I've often thought that it would be useful to have common sword and tosogu-related kanji grouped by radical as it is often possible to make out part of a kanji but not the whole thing and that could possibly be used as a shortcut when trying to work out inscriptions. I'd thought I might put it together when I have more time on my hands...

Hi Gary: a trip to San Francisco would indeed make sense - I don't think I'd have to try too hard to get approval for that...and maybe a run on to Hawaii...I have a desire to visit the Arizona memorial. Also Chicago might be an option as the Missus is into researching her family tree and has a wayward ancestor who went coal mining in Illinois in the 1880s and she'd love to do some digging around to see if she could find out anything about him and I could leave her to do that and take in the show. Hi Barry: thanks for the reply - yes you are absolutely right. Perhaps the lack of focus is the problem and I should stop tinkering and get serious. Out of interest, which smith's work did you fall in love with? Kind regards, John